A Live Kissing Booth
by MeowKitty1995
Summary: I am a live, walking, talking kissing booth. Without the cardboard box with hearts and kiss marks. I kiss anyone, both genders, if they are willing to pay me. So how would you like to be kissed? Slow, passionate, soft, rough, chaste, tongue action, I'm willing to do it all. If you pay me, of course, NaruSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**A Live Kissing Booth**

**Please don't be harsh. I'm a newbie writer. Review!**

* * *

Have you ever felt it? The moment where your heart sings and leaps for joy at the prospect of doing one particular job for life? Your heart suddenly becomes filled with joy and you feel like there isn't a single career in this world that you wish to do more?

That's not how I felt when I started this job.

I was a foolish, teenage girl, desperately needing money for my tuition. I read about it in some manga once, and even though the manga itself was far-fetched from reality, I really had no choice. All the stores around my neighborhood had already hired people, and if one was hiring, it wouldn't hire a person like me with no previous job experience, proper resume, and no reference or cover letter. Compared to that, it was pretty simple, I wasn't bossed around by a stuck-up manager who thought they were better than anyone else because of their position, and the pay was pretty decent…if I had lots of customers that is. Oh right, I didn't explain what my job was, did I?

Basically, I was a walking kissing booth.

Without the tacky looking cardboard box with pink hearts and lip marks all over it. No, that would be kind of embarrassing. Everyday, I sat on the school rooftop at lunch, so that guys and girls _(my potential clients…girls rates are more expensive than the guys, but there are quite a lot of them. Surprised? Don't be)_ can line up in front of me to wait their turns to be kissed. I accepted money before I kiss them, because I learned my lesson after one of my first clients decided to kiss-and-ditch, and proceeded to give them the best kiss of their lives. Kind of.

I made enough money to pay my tuition, have my basic necessities, and also a bit leftover for clothes, accessories, books, and food which was mostly dango. To be honest, and I'm only admitting it now, I was considering making a career out of it. Wouldn't that be fun? _"Do you want the type of kiss that will make your toes curl, your insides drop, and leave you breathless, flushed, basically the type of kiss that you see in the movies? Well, you can experience the same with Sakura in Sakura's Live Kissing Booth!"_

Yeah, right.

Wait, did I even introduce myself? My name is Haruno Sakura, by the way. I'm in high school. I know, it's cliche, but then when someone does something stupid, you can bet that its in their high school year. So, don't be mad, you know you did very stupid things when you were in high school too. As for my grads...my grades were good, top of the class and still is, but because of what I wasn't, and still not, that popular. I don't think I really had any friends at school. Sure, I had Ino who was my childhood friend, but she was in another city far, far away from here, so it didn't really count.

Oh, I have pink hair. I didn't dye it. It's one of the reasons why I got so many customers; some guys are really, really into that whole 'exotic' look. I'm not particularly good looking either, but I'm not gross or cringe-worthy. If I was, I wouldn't get any profit of doing what I did, would I?

Wow, I just realized that this introduction is so messed up. Do you even know what I'm saying anymore? I don't think you do. That's okay. If you got the basic idea that I am Haruno Sakura, and that I worked as a kissing booth_ (for the lack of better term)_, you're good. By the way, this is a romance story with super corny and sappy actions NOT BY ME but by my now-boyfriend, so if you don't like romance, you better stop reading now.

Now where was I? Damn it, this introduction is becoming more and more of a mess as I write. You know what? Forget it. Forget this entire story. Erase it from your mind. This was the dumbest thing I decided to do, including my kissing job.

...No, don't forget it. I already started writing, damn it, and I'm going to at least I'll finish what I'm doing.

Okay, so let me start from the very beginning. Not when I was a baby, no, but when I first met _him. _It all happened when this new guy, Naruto Uzumaki, transferred to my high school about 5 months ago…

* * *

_5 Months Ago_

"Hey, my name is Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"

I turned to look at him, the new kid who transferred. He was pretty cute, with his blonde hair and tanned skin, and that blue eyes of his were almost hypnotizing. He looked like he worked out a lot, his muscle definition pretty clear even under the baggy uniform. I could already tell that he's going to be pretty popular with some of the girls, if their unwavering gaze fixed on his form was anything to go by.

I went back to staring out the window, satisfied with my effort to participate for today, and went back to ignoring everything that happened in class. The lectures were useless anyway, not because I'm a genius or anything, but just because the teachers were downright _morons_ that didn't even know half the shit they were reading out from the text book most of the time, that you are better off studying the material by yourself.

"You have pink hair!"

I looked to my right and saw the new kid grinning at me. I looked to the empty seat beside me, and quickly deduced that he was my new seatmate. I sighed, and examined him more closely_ (if he was going to be my seatmate, I better know more about him than just the color of his eyes)_. His uniform was worn sloppily, not tucked into his pants, and the blazer that he didn't even bother to wear hung loosely from his shoulders. A blush was creeping on to my face as I stared at his built chest that was peeking from his half-unbuttoned shirt, but I quickly fought it down.

And wait, was that whisker-marks on his face?

"And you have whiskers on your face."

He grinned a little wider, sitting down beside me.

"Yep! Isn't it cool?"

I gave him a stare that hopefully correctly implied 'are you serious?', but unfortunately the meaning was lost because he continued to grin at me. I finally gave in and smiled, amused.

"Sure."

"So what's your name? My name is—"

"I know, I heard, when you yelled it out in front of the entire class." I gave him my right hand to shake, smiling politely.

"Name is Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan." I blinked at the familiarity that he spoke my name with, but didn't think too much upon it. The girls glaring at me from his back would probably give a lecture on why he shouldn't hang out with me, and soon, he won't ever speak to me again.

Ignoring the moronic teacher, I turned back to the window.

…

The weather was really nice today, I realized from my usual spot at the school roof top. I had a spare block right before it, so I was a bit earlier than my usual working hour, but any minute now and my lovely customers would start trickling in. I lied down completely, looking up at the blue sky with fluffy white clouds that reminded me of sheep. Or cotton candy. Even though one to the right looked like a giraffe.

"The sky is so blue..."

His eyes were blue.

Uzumaki Naruto, I mouthed. I sighed. After lunch, he probably won't even be speaking to me, afraid of consequences of hanging out with the 'Pink prostitute." I tried to repress the feeling of hope that maybe, maybe he was different from everyone else around the school who wasn't my customer. I didn't want to be disappointed when he followed the actions of all the people before him who learned about my job.

"Sakura-san?" A male's voice called out, waking me up from my thoughts about the new kid and my social life (or the lack there of).

"Hello, do you have the money for me?"

He nodded, giving me a roll of bills worth about 50 dollars. I blinked, as it was one of the most I got from one customer. I smiled.

"Okay then."

I gave him a motion to sit down, which he did while shaking a bit, blush evident on his face. Ah, so he was a shy type that wanted to get the experience of kissing a girl, probably because he has never kissed anyone. I sat in front of the boy, and gave him a smile that I hoped was disarming enough.

"So, how would you like to be kissed?"

…

After the lunch was over, I went back to the classroom and started counting the money that I made. Inwardly, I was quite pleased. There were lots of customers who asked for long minutes, therefore more money for me, and all of them looked pretty decent with clean breath. One time, I had to kiss a guy with spinach and seaweed stuck all over his teeth. He asked for a full make-out session too. Fortunately, I was paid handsomely, but even now I shudder at the memory. I think I brushed my teeth and gargled for solid 30 minutes straight.

"Hey, Sakura-chan..."

I turned and looked at the new kid, who had a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes, unlike in the morning. I sighed inwardly, knowing that the girls already informed him about my unorthodox job. I prepared myself for the name calling and disgusted looks that would soon follow. I also ignored the small voice inside my head that screamed 'I told you so,' scolding me for even hoping that he might be different in the first place.

Just because his smile was friendly, warm, and seemingly nonjudgmental, doesn't mean he himself was. I learned my lesson.

"Yes?"

"Um, some of the girls told me about your job," I knew it, "and I was wondering if that was true..."

"Yeah, it is." What's the point of dragging it out?

He dropped his fake smile, and frowned. "So you kiss anyone for sake of money?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely anyone? Girl, guy, dog, cat, anything and anyone?"

I smirked. "Well, I haven't kissed anything other than human so far, but I think if I was paid enough I'd be willing to venture out. Are you into zoophilia? Is that why you are asking?"

He quickly blushed, face turning red, and sputtered out series of "What? Where did you-what?"

"I'm kidding, Uzumaki-san."

He calmed down, and then looked at me once more with serious expression on his face.

"Don't you have any respect for yourself? Why do you do it, Sakura-chan?"

My eyes narrowed. "Because I need money."

He growled. "So, you're gonna do anything for money?"

I stared at him, squashing down the anger I felt at another person judging what I do. For goodness sake, it's just kissing, it's not like I'm a legitimate prostitute and sleeping with everyone! I'm still a virgin, damn it!

"I'm willing to kiss anyone for money."

He looked at me, disgust, anger, and disappointment now glaringly obvious on his face. He looked as if he was about to say something, and then closed his mouth.

"But why? Is money that important?"

I sighed. "I'm poor, Uzumaki-san. Dirt poor. But it's no use explaining it to you, is it? You wouldn't understand my position anyway."

He lost his cool and started yelling, "I understand because I was poor once! But that doesn't mean that I resorted to prostituting myself out to people just to make money!"

I smirked bitterly.

"I guess everyone's different."

He looked at me in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that someone would say something like that. I narrowed my eyes and stared back at him, daring him to yell once more. Finally he looked away.

"I can't believe I am sitting beside someone like you."

I scoffed, and turned to look outside the window again. I was used to this type of behavior by now. I hid my shaking fist under the desk. Why can't anyone understand that this is the only choice I had? People steal, kill, stab backs, cheat, gossip, but kissing someone for money was so wrong?

When Karin moves on from boyfriends to boyfriends, sleeping with them and giving them blow jobs just so she could get that newest Louis Vuitton bag that she wants, that's not prostituting? But me kissing people in order to pay my tuition and everything else in my life that my parents weren't able to provide for me, my college fund, it was prostituting?At least I'm being honest that I'm doing it for the money up front, instead of manipulating.

I thought back to his bright grin, and bit my lips in frustration and annoyance.

"And here I thought, that maybe you'd be different," I bit out bitterly, not even turning to face him. I didn't mean to say it out loud, but whatever.

He flinched as if struck, and looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

I narrowed my eyes and glared, ignoring his returning glare.

"Are you sure you can stand talking to me? After all, you declared your disgust for sitting beside me few seconds ago. "

He opened his mouth to say something but the teacher came in, interrupting him. He shut his mouth, and looked to the front, fully intent on ignoring me. I scoffed. Fine by me, you judgmental idiot.

I stared out the window, ignoring the burning stare that I felt beside me.

...

I didn't talk to him for another two weeks. Ever single class, we ignored each other. He quickly became popular, just like how I predicted, making friends, joining soccer club, getting confessions from girls almost weekly. He seemed to be friendly with everyone except me, which was fine. Didn't expect much else from him anyway. I completely disregarded his existence (well, as well as one can disregard someone's existence when they are sitting right beside them) and didn't think much about him.

It wasn't until that he came to the rooftop, looking at me with a furious expression, that I thought about him once more.

* * *

**This was inspired by, really, a manga that I read one time. Well, it wasn't a manga per say because it was Korean manwha, but closest would be manga I guess.**

**It's probably going to be short, maybe only one more chapter after this. **

**Do you like it so far? Review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A Live Kissing Booth**

The thing is, I'm not disgusted by her.

Nope. Not really.

Well, a big part of me is disgusted. Really, has she got no shame? Kissing people randomly? I mean, aren't kisses supposed to happen only between two people that like each other? Isn't it something that is shared between boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, and not just random strangers who paid?

But...

But I do understand where she is coming from.

After all, my parents and I were pretty poor growing up, and they were sometimes tempted to do illegal things to keep the food on our table. Stealing groceries, shoes, and clothes would save money which can be used for things that they _couldn't _easily steal. Things like electricity bills, rent, mortgage, and some could even be saved up towards my university fund (Their words, not mine. Right now, I'm not even thinking about going to university.)

It was tempting, but they never did it. Honorable, respectful, and trying to do the right thing always; those qualities were what my parents reinforced, encouraged, and carved into my brain since I was a child. But my parents were rarity, and even I knew that. Not all parents probably taught their children of utmost importance of being moral at all times, even in times of extreme poverty.

So, while I am kind of disgusted and still do not agree with her action, she's not _completely _disgusting. And really, she was much too pretty to be vile.

One thing that she said really struck a cord with me though.

"And here I thought, that maybe you'd be different."

God, it hurt. How much I could relate to her pain.

It wasn't until 2nd year of middle school that I started to make friends. Before, in elementary and kindergarten, I always got judgmental stares, harsh whispers behind my back, and was never addressed by my actual name by my fellow peers. Why would they even try to be friends with me? No one wanted to hang out with the poor, loud, obnoxious boy with _whisker__s _on his face. Therefore, it was no surprise that I was subjected to constant bullying and without a companion all the time.

I kept hoping that someone might come my way and be different, that someone might befriend me and look past the loudness, lack of money, and see the child that was me. No one did though.

I clenched my fists, guilt blooming inside my heart as I looked back on the event. The words that I said, the tone of my voice, my expression, her expression, her eyes, and her disappointment and anger. I remember thinking in elementary that 'Everyone was the same.'

It pained me to realize that I was no different from them.

...

I really tried to talk to her. Say sorry, or something along the line.

But that green, green, _green_ eyes of hers were always looking in the direction of the window, shut off from the rest of the world (_because they shut her off first). _I never even bothered trying to strike up a conversation with her in the classroom, because there was no way that what I said wouldn't go to ears of everyone by the end of the block. Also, I kind of wanted the apology to be private since, normally, Uzumaki Naruto is not the type of person who goes around apologizing to people just because of stating the truth.

I tried talking to her at lunch, but when the lunch bell rang, she was always the first one to leave. I even visited the roof top that she was...working...at, but there were always too many people for me to go up to her and apologize. She really was pretty popular with some of the students.

Few days passed with me beating around the bush, not really doing much other than observe her from the distance in order to find the right opportunity to talk to her. During those few days, I noticed that she really had no friends. None whatsoever. Even those clients of hers, I knew for sure that some of them were in our class, didn't even try to talk to her outside of their 'appointment'. She never spoke, unless it was attendance, and even the teachers left her alone for the most of the time.

The thing that's really unfair was that, with all the time she spends daydreaming, you'd think her mark is shit. No. It's completely fantastic. That girl, whether everyone admits it or not, whether she herself admits it or not, was brilliant. Too bad she was wasting it with the shitty job like hers.

Also, with all the times I spent watching her (_I swear to ramen that I am not a stalker. No. That shit is just fucked up. I'm just observing. Yeah, that's it.)_ I noticed that she was really pretty. Prettier than I first realized. It wasn't about her features; her skin wasn't flawless, her hair didn't look all that soft, and her forehead was a bit-maybe very-large. At single glance, she just looks pretty, but nothing special. Type of pretty that you see everyday, almost, not anything 'goddess' or 'model' worthy at all.

But her posture is graceful and confident. Her skin, while not flawless and completely devoid of blemishes, is pale white, while her hair is just the most pleasant shade of pink. Her lips were devoid of color, but plump and full. The prettiest of them all was probably her eyes, though. Those green eyes that were so green that it makes me dizzy. Those green eyes that never looked at me, but stared out the window with apathy and disinterest. I wondered what they would look like if she was angry, sad, or happy. Would they light up, turning even lighter of green? Or would they darken and become forest green?

Would I ever know? Probably not.

Don't go around thinking that I love her. I don't. She's really really pretty, and there's something about her that reminds me so much of myself that I can't bring myself to look away, but I'm not in love with her. I admit that I might be developing a teeny, tiny, minuscule, almost non-existent crush on her. Maybe. I'm not even sure.

...

About two or three weeks of me just beating around the bush, something happened that got me angrier than I've been in awhile.

Haruno Sakura walked in to the classroom with a puffy face, split lip, and almost-black eye with bandages wrapped around both of her arms and her right thigh.

The thing that annoyed me the most was that no one cared. They glanced, stared, gossiped, but no one approached her and asked if she was okay. What happened to her fucking clients? The teachers? Weren't they supposed to ask someone questions and what happened if one of the most intelligent student in the grade walked in with bruises and bandages?

_Didn't anyone give a fucking shit?_

I didn't turn my eyes to look at her, even as she sat down beside me. As if nothing happened, she continued to stare at the window. No one appraoched her. No one asked her.

_She was invisible._

_No one asked. _

_No one helped. _

_No one **cared.**_

_It hurt. _

_Pain and loneliness so familiar, worn by someone other than me. _

_Some how, it hurt more than wearing it myself._

I clenched my fists tightly, drawing blood from my finger nails.

...

"Oi, Naruto, wanna eat lunch-"

"Sorry, gotta go somewhere today. See you later!"

Typical Sakura. She disappeared as soon as the lunch bell rang, even when I paid especial care to get out of the classroom as soon as possible with my lunch.

Wait, was she even holding her lunch?

My eyes narrowed. She better not be fucking starving herself.

I went past the crowds of people who were coming out of their classroom just now, and ran down the hallway. Soon, I reached the stairs and started running up, wanting to get to the rooftop as fast as possible.

What the fuck happened?

Was she bullied?

Was it a regular occurrence?

_Is she okay?_

I finally reached the rooftop, and banged the doors open. I looked to see her regular spot where she sat, and spotted her almost immediately. She laid down on the cement comfortably, not bothering to shield her eyes from the sun. She didn't turn around at the noise, but continued to stare at the grey, cloudy sky, as if she hadn't heard the loud bang that I made when I destroyed the door.

"I'm not working today. Sorry about that. Come back three days later."

I stormed up towards her, who didn't even bother to sit up even though my stomps were louder than elephant's. When her eyes finally recognized who it was, it widened in surprise, but quickly narrowed, suspicious.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?

I growled. I sat behind her head and examined the bruises on her pretty, _pretty_ face.

"Who did this to you?"

She scoffed. "What do you care."

I stayed silent, unable to deny the truth in her accusations. Well, not true, since I do care, but she doesn't know that, does she? She still thinks I'm disgusted by her job, believing that she was a whore, intent on ignoring her like the rest of the school.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry. "

There we go. I finally apologized.

Her green eyes pierced mine, and I was soon hypnotized by her gaze.

"For what? You didn't beat me up."

"I know, but I meant for what I said. I shouldn't have done that."

She blinked, and I realized for the first time how long her pink lashes were, framing those too-fucking-_green_ eyes of hers. Her lips twitched and curled upwards what seemed like a beginning of a smile.

"Don't worry about it. I get worse."

I frowned, not liking that what I said to her was not the worst. I guessed that it was the case already, I could hear what the girls had to say behind her back and some of them got me so angry that I almost wanted to slap them, but to hear it from herself was quite different.

She said it as if verbal abuse was normal.

"It shouldn't be like that."

Her smile turned bitter, while her eyes never strayed away from mine.

"I know. But what can I do."

I sighed, knowing the truth in her words.

I moved so that I was right beside her, and laid down. I stared at the grey, cloudy sky, trying to figure out what was so interesting about the gloomy sky that captured her attention for so long.

"Where's your lunch?"

"Not here."

My eyes narrowed.

"You're too skinny to go on any diets, Sakura-chan."

"I'm not. School cafeteria doesn't sell dango."

I frowned.

"Yeah, they don't sell any ramen either. Which is stupid cause ramen is, like, godsend. Everyone should eat it every day of their lives."

"Pfft, that's cause you haven't tried dango."

"Hey, I tried dango! Too sweet for my tastes."

She mock-gasped.

"Nothing is too sweet, Uzumaki-san."

I grinned.

"I'm still gonna stick with ramen."

"You're weird."

"Says you, Ms. I'm-not-gonna-eat-anything-other-than-dango."

"Hey, I never said that."

"But you're not eating cause you don't have dango."

"...There ain't anything wrong with that."

I grinned.

"Whatever you say, Sakura-chan."

Silence surrounded us, but without awkwardness of normal silence between people because both of us were much too engrossed with our thoughts. The school rooftop was devoid of people other than us, therefore the silence was not broken by anything other than eventual songs of birds and yells of guys playing soccer on the playground.

"So you're good at kissing?" I blurted out, without even thinking about the words and what they meant.

My eyes widened and I felt like slapping my face at my own stupidity. I am a fucking moron. An idiot. Imbecile. Why the hell did I ask that question?

I quickly stammered out a reply.

"That was really, really stupid thing to say, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, I am."

I blinked and looked at her, not believing my ears. I searched her face to see whether she actually spoke or my ears were just hearing false things, and I noticed that her mouth was tense in a straight line as if she was trying to hold her laughter. Finally, she gave up, and let out a quiet chuckle. I smiled in relief, thankful that she wasn't offended or anything.

"You're so silly, Uzumaki-san."

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

I smiled and looked down at her surprised face.

"Naruto. Uzumaki-san makes me sound like an old fart who cares about politeness too much. Besides, all my friends call me Naruto."

"But I am not your friend, Uzumaki-san."

My smile became wider.

"You are now, Sakura-chan."

She looked stunned, staring at me in silence as if expecting a punch line, but I continued to stare at her, my smile still intact. She finally smiled a genuine smile, more truthful and more joyful than I have seen so far, one that really showed how beautiful she really was.

"Okay...Naruto."

I laid back down beside her, content with the progress I made so far.

I stared at the grey clouds, noticing that they still looked quite fluffy and not like those heavy rain clouds, so I wouldn't have to worry about extreme downpour soon. Good, cause I didn't even bring an umbrella today, and my house was at least 20 minute walk. Comfortable silence resumed, still not awkward. I thought back on her pretty face, and her happy smile, patting myself on the back for putting that smile on her.

"So you're really good at kissing?"

She punched me on the arm, not bothering to hide her smile.

"Shush you, Mr. Pervert."

I grinned.

Today was a really, really good day.

* * *

**Review please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Live Kissing Booth**

He made me explain who beat me up.

So I told him. How a girl, who was driven by jealousy and heartbreak because her boyfriend broke up with her due to dissatisfaction he felt after being one of my customer. Honestly, if you ask me, any guy who breaks up with a girl just because he was dissatisfied with kiss level is a jerk, but I can't say anything because I'm just a slut. Also, it's not my fault that I'm such a good kisser. Please note the sarcasm.

Well, maybe not, I mean I should be a good kisser to do what I do for living.

Then, I told him that the said jealous, heartbroken girl gathered other people who wanted revenge (_"For what?" "I don't know, something about me stealing their girlfriend." "You kissed a girl?" "Multiples of girls, sweetie. -pause- Naruto, are you getting a nosebleed?")_ and then cornered me after school to beat the living crap out of me. I'm exaggerating; it wasn't too bad.

He was still mad though. He said he knew the guy who broke up with her, and that he was going around saying that she was a "stupid slut who can't even do her job right," that she deserved whatever heartbreak that she received. I thought that might be a little too harsh, but I was also glad that someone thought bad of her on my behalf. Then the conversation moved on to variety of things like his favorite food, movies, bands, and my disagreement in almost every single one of them except movies. We argued, although it was friendly rather than malicious.

By the time I went back home, I smiled at the turn of events.

I had a friend now.

...

It was weird, having a friend.

Seriously, seriously weird.

Maybe it wasn't weird. Maybe it was just the fact that I just don't remember what having a friend meant, after long periods of going without one.

It sounds really sad, and depressing, and all so emo-ish and stuff that I usually don't go for, but it's true. I really, sincerely don't remember what having a friend meant. I mean, I did have one friend; Ino. But she was my elementary school buddy. I haven't seen her in 4 years if I am remembering it correctly, and all our interactions are done over the computer. So, it's safe to say that I really don't remember much about having a friend. Rather, I don't know what one is supposed to do with their friends. Are we supposed to watch movies together? Text? Chat constantly? But he's a guy, so won't different rules apply?

Woe is me, the socially challenged Sakura.

Now that I think about it, I do remember one thing with Ino. We were fighting for a guy, a name I can't even remember now, and that was one of the biggest and the only fight I had with a friend. It ended pretty quickly when we both realized that the guy was an asshole, stuck up, arrogant prick who will never look at girls the way normal boys look at them. He's probably gay now, or too in love with himself to be interested in female gender. So am I supposed to fight with Naruto about girls?...I don't think that's quite right.

Also, few things changed, now that Uzu-Naruto was my friend.

Usually, when I walk into the class in the morning, no one acknowledges me. On the days where I am not invisible enough, some may growl and glare, but usually no one even bothers to do that. _(Somehow, that's even more depressing than people hating me. Am I not even worthy of attention, no matter how negative they are?)_

Now, when I walk into the classroom, Uzuma-Naruto, Naruto actually says hi to me and smiles. The first time he did that, everyone looked at us in silence, wondering how I will react. _(I am growling at the memory. Who the fuck do they think I am? Some kind of rabid animal who'll kiss anyone who shows even remote kindness towards me?)_ I just smiled and said hi back. I sat at my usual seat and he resumed the conversation he was having with his friend. Soon, everyone resumed whatever they were doing before shock from the turn of the events rendered them useless. Chatters returned, along with yells and shouts.

That was the end of that.

We don't talk much. He still has his friends that want to stay the hell away from him _(the friends I would really love to punch and give them piece of my mind),_ and I still need my job and privacy that he doesn't want to interfere with. So we didn't talk much at lunch times, or even in between classes' breaks. Our interactions were limited to exchanging quite greetings and smiles.

It was still weird though.

...Dare I say that it almost, _almost _made school more bearable?

No, who am I kidding, school sucked shit still; the teachers were incompetent, and everyone else still hated me other than my clients who didn't like me enough to stand up for me, and I have total count of one fucking friend. Whoop-de-doo. So no, having Naruto as my friend doesn't make anything better.

_(Maybe...maybe just a little bit.)_

...

A month or two passed by, with greetings and smiles in the beginning of the class. I was slowly getting used to Naruto and his smiles, and if he began to spend more time with me talking before and after school, I never mentioned it.

It made me happier, the short amount of human interaction that I had. His grin was always so bright and _kind_, that I can't help but smile along with him no matter what the subject of the topic was before.

"Psst, Sakura-chan."

I tore my gaze from the window and the sky and looked to see the person that had been subject of my thoughts for quite some time. If that sounded a little creepy, I apologize.

He had a sheepish expression on his face which I smiled at.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Sorry to be blunt, and sorry for being disrespectful to the teacher, but _what the fuck is she talking about?_"

I blinked, and stared at him, not understanding where he was coming from. What's the class even about right now? Social Studies? Or maybe it's history...

"Explain."

"No it's just 'cause we are doing trig right now and I don't get what the hell she is talking about. What the fuck is SYR CXR TYX? I thought it was SOH CAH TOA all my life. Is my life just a lie? And why is she saying that sine is y value and cosine is x value? AND WHAT IS THIS SPECIAL TRIANGLE SHIT?" He whisper-yelled, frustration evident in his tone. Then, he made faces at the book, making ripping motions with his hands.

I smiled at his childishness, and looked to his textbook _(Because mine wasn't even open nor was it out of my backpack. Come to think of it, I don't think I even brought it to school. Oops. Bite me.)_ to see that they were doing trigonometry on the unit circle.

So that's what he's talking about.

"It's on the unit circle," I whispered back, "so it makes sense. On the unit circle, the sine becomes simple the value of y-axis, cosine becomes x, while tangent is just y/x. It's all because the hypotenuse of the circle is 1 no matter what."

He blinked, and blinked, not responding to my explanation. I sighed and smiled, rolling my eyes.

"Want me to explain-"

"Haruno Sakura! If you are so smart that you talk in my class without paying attention to me, then maybe you ought to come up here and teach everyone else."

Well. Fuck.

I looked at the teacher, whose eyes were fixed on Naruto and I. Now the entire classroom was staring at me, curious to see how I would react. While my expression didn't change, I clenched my fists under my desk.

I don't like attention. Especially from this shitty group of people. From years of bullying, I learned that attention draws out more people, and more people means more stupid idiots who wants to show off in front of people, trying to appear strong. It meant more people would intentionally be cruel, participating and giving in to the peer pressure to fit in, and more people would stand there and look at me with pitying eyes, still unwilling to stand up for me in fear of being the target of the crowd next.

I absolutely detested crowd.

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry for interrupting your class."

She smiled, not the smile that makes you feel better and makes you think life is all shits and giggles, but the smile where you just _know _that bitch will do something to make your life worse a little more.

"Haruno-san, I really want you to explain to the class what is going on. You might be able to explain it better than I do." It wasn't hard to note the sarcasm in her voice as she said the last sentence.

"But I'm not comfortable with teaching a class-"

"Haruno-san, you will come up here and teach the class right now, or you will be seeing the principal for detention after school."

I growled, clenching my fists so tightly under the desk that I could feel it trembling. I was about to give her a sarcastic retort, refusing to go up in front of the class and teach group of imbeciles who hated me, when a much larger and warmer hand grabbed mine. I turned to see Naruto, whose hands were still holding on to mine, wrapping around them. He was looking straight ahead at the teacher, no expression of embarrassment or discomfort on his face as his hand continued to gently squeeze mine, and_ oh my fucking God he was still holding my hand. _

"Sakura-chan really doesn't want to do it. Don't make her do something that she doesn't want to do."

He bit out, voice tensed and serious.

Not a single soul moved after his statement. Everyone continued to look at him, shocked that he was defending me and _Sakura-chan?_ Since when was it Sakura-chan? I could see their thoughts in their dumbfounded expressions. I myself didn't really blame them because I was very, very surprised as well.

"Excuse me, Uzumaki-san, but it is not your place to tell me what to do."

"It's not your place either."

"Uzumaki-san! I am your teacher and I deserve respect-"

"I don't have any respect for you. You are a terrible teacher with even worse personality."

I gasped, my gasp in synchronization with the rest of the class. His blatant display of disrespect astounded all of us, who always thought he was just a sunny, bright, kind person with permanent grin on his face. In this school, no one has ever showed such rebelliousness. Ever.

The teacher looked so, _so very angry_ now.

"Keep this up and I will be calling your parents over-"

"I don't care," he growled, "I'm sure my parents will be disgusted by you trying to embarrass and humiliate a student just because she was chatting in class. Everyone else in the class is doing it, so why are you only picking on her?"

I just stared, disbelief evident on my face.

Someone was protecting me...

_When was I ever, ever protected in my life?_

"Uzumaki-san, out!"

"Great! Didn't want to be here anyway."

He gave a reassuring squeeze as he left, the pressure gentle but firm and comforting, while looking at me and giving me a small smile. He walked out of the classroom, confident, as if everyone's stare wasn't on him. He opened the door, gave the incompetent teacher one last glare, and shut the door behind him.

"Now, let's get back to business, shall we?"

No one did. Everyone was either staring at me, or staring at the door that Naruto just walked out from, not believing what just happened.

I didn't believe what just happened either.

* * *

**The trig thing is what I learnt this year, in Pre-Calculus 12. I hated the unit, really. I can assure you, the frustration that Naruto portrayed is exactly how I felt as I was learning it. **

**It's awesome, cause all my exams are over, which means I can update more frequently and write more frequently and read more frequently and...yeah you get the point. So expect more updates. I say this, and then I may not update, which will be bad. Crap. **

**Well, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. **

**Review?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A Live Kissing Booth**

Was it popular for guys to take laxatives?

Because I swear, that is the only possible explanation that could result in this _humongous _dump.

'Hmm, of all things to think about in this world, why would great Uzumaki Naruto think about poo?' you might ask. Well, that is because of that stupid bitch who decided that she would first bully Sakura-chan, and then make me clean all the washrooms in the building after school, including the girls', for standing up for her. Where is the justice in this world? I ask.

Not at this school, obviously.

I finished cleaning up the stall with the humongous dump, and moved on to the next stall. Sense of terror came over me as I slowly opened the door, the smell warning me of the atrociousness that lie ahead. Door fully open, I looked and saw the most disgusting toilet I have ever seen.

It was filled with _yellow tissues_ and _brown __diarrhea_, and if that wasn't enough, the little pieces of the said diarrhea was on the floor. The sight was so disgusting that it was enough to make anyone turn and run to the opposite side as fast as possible.

Anyone who wasn't assigned to clean up the said toilet.

"Fuck."

I'm gonna need a nose plug. Or febreeze.

I wonder if I'll be able to eat dinner after this.

...

Now came another dilemma.

I have to clean the girls' bathroom as well.

I already finished with all the guys' bathroom in the building. I thought that I could deal with the girls' after I finish the guys and hoped for a magical solution to occur while I cleaned up someone else's shit (literally), but it didn't yet. I mean, I could always go in to the girls bathroom, hoping that no one would be there to call me 'pervert', clean, and go home. However, even if there would be no girls in the washroom, I still didn't want to.

I'd feel like a pervert, I thought to myself.

I guess I could have paid a girl to clean it for me, but it didn't feel right to be asking someone else to do the punishment that wasn't meant for them.

"What to do..."

"Having trouble?"

I turned around and saw Sakura-chan with her hands behind her back, smiling. I smiled back and walked towards her.

"What are you still doing here?"

"A little bird told me that someone had to clean all the washrooms in the school for sticking up for a pink-haired slut," she said, tucking one of her pink hair behind her ear.

I narrowed my eyes, the incident where she got beaten up clear in my head.

"Did they hit you or something? Because I swear I'll-"

"No, Naruto," she waved her hand, "I mean, few words here and there, but no harm done."

I sighed.

"Sakura-chan..."

"It's fine, really. Nothing I couldn't handle."

She smiled and I smiled back, albeit reluctantly, still bothered that someone threatened her.

"So how was the boys' bathroom? Did you see anything, uhh, _interesting?_"

"Haha, yeah. You should see some of the shit I had to clean. I mean, I wonder how much they eat for their poo to look that big!"

I gestured with my hands the approximate size of the poo. She looked at me disbelievingly.

"Okay, maybe it's a little bit exaggerated, but still it was pretty damn close."

"Naruto, it's probably humanely impossible for anyone's poo to be that big." She giggled, and smiled again.

_(Did you know she has dimples on her face? They're just small ones that appeared only when she smiled. I like them a lot.)_

Her smile grew dim as she took my hands in hers. It was when I felt her gentle touch that I realized how much my hands hurt from scrubbing all the toilets, wielding heavy mops and tubs of water. Because this school is stupid, it won't let me wash the dirty mops in the bathroom. So, I had to carry them from the first floor, where there is a designated area for the cleaning products, to all the bathrooms located in four floors.

I didn't realize how tired I really was until now.

She was still holding my hands gently, looking at the blisters that were forming, and slight trembling of the fingers due to overexertion. She frowned.

"They look..."

"Terrible? Yeah, I know." It was meant to come out jokingly, but apparently it didn't convince her because her frown got even deeper than before.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"Well..." Kind of, now that I finally let myself think about the pain, "not really. Nothing I can't handle."

She gently let go of my hands (_Are all girls' hands soft? And cool?__) _and looked at my face, her green eyes meeting mine. Finally, she smiled, (_if my smile got a little bit bigger, it wasn't intentional)_ and rolled up her sleeves. Then, she picked up one of the mop that I was using and moved to the end of the hallway.

I blinked, and moved to stop her.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing?"

She turned around, and smiled.

"What does it look like I'm doing, silly? Helping you, of course."

I walked up to her so that we were side by side .

"But you don't need to, it's my punishment."

She sighed.

"Naruto, I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. It's my fault you are in this position in the first place-" she ignored my motions of protest and kept on speaking as if she didn't see me shaking my head furiously, "-and you probably don't wanna go into the girls' washroom anyway. Besides, you look pretty tired already."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"But I should at least help you with something..."

"If you are really desperate," I nodded as she said this, "then push the mop bucket and the wringer to the girls bathroom? Just kick it or something. Don't use your hands."

Listening to her advice, I carefully kicked the bucket towards the end of the hall, while she followed with a mop. Reaching the bathroom first, I looked back and stifled a laugh as I saw her walking down the hall like a penguin with a mop that was too tall for her.

"Sakura-chan, do you need a hand?"

She growled.

"Shush, you."

I laughed as she finally reached in front of me, glaring although I knew she wasn't really angry. She humphed and went inside the bathroom, dragging the mop behind her as she muttered something along the line of 'why', 'stupid mop', and 'not even vertically challenged'. I laughed at her antics and followed her inside, kicking the mop bucket.

"Sakura-chan, there's blood on the floor."

"Yes, I can see that. I wonder where that's from..."

"Maybe someone got into a fight?"

"No, judging by the used tampon that's on the floor, I'd say it's from there."

"Eww! That's gross!"

"I think Mai-san said she was bleeding quite profusely, particularly so this month. Maybe it's hers?"

"Sakura-chan! Ewww!"

...

"That was scarring. Do you see my mental scars?"

"Oh, suck it up. That was nothing. Besides, I listened to you when you were talking about that giant poo that you found in boys' washroom."

"That's different."

She giggled and I couldn't help but smile with her, amused at the situation. Here I was, walking with a girl, talking about blood and poo.

How washroom cleaning bonds people.

We reached an intersection, where I knew that we would have to separate for I went to the left while she went the opposite direction. We stopped and looked at each other for few seconds, wondering what the other will do. Finally, Sakura-chan smiled.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, Naruto."

She waved and I waved back, softly replying. She smiled and turned, slowly walking to her home.

Should I do it?

Should I ask her if I could walk her home?

The cleaning took longer than we thought, so the sky was already pretty dark. While it wasn't completely pitch black yet, and the street lights were flickering on, it would be very dark really soon. It was almost 8 already, too. What if she was attacked? Molested? Kidnapped? Assaulted? It wasn't the most dangerous neighborhood, but you could never be too safe. Besides, it was what a gentleman should do. But what if she thinks I'm annoying? What if she doesn't want to be with me any longer because I talked about someone's dump? Should I ask or not?

"Wait, Sakura-chan!"

I guess my mouth already made up my mind for me.

She turned around and looked at me as I jogged to catch up to her. I scratched the back of my head, a habit that comes out whenever I'm nervous (_It wasn't until later that I realized my nervousness formed __because of the possibility of rejection, because I already liked her more than I realized.) _and grinned slightly to ease the tension I felt. _  
_

"Want me to walk you home?"

She blinked and stared at my face, not replying. Her brows were furrowed and her nose was scrunched, something I recognized as her thinking expression. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and began to think some more. Just as I was about to retrieve my invitation and tell her to forget the idea, she opened her mouth and said a single word.

"Okay."

She smiled and turned around, walking away.

I blinked, not quite believing that she actually said yes. But I soon realized that I was just stupidly staring at where she used to be, I quickly turned around and ran to catch up to her.

"Sakura-chan, don't leave me here! It's dark and scary!"

"What is this? My bodyguard is scared of the dark more than I am! Can I really trust you to protect me from big bad wolves?"

I grinned at her reference.

"There are wolves? I take it back. I ain't protecting you. Wolves were never part of the contract."

"Pfft. What a useless bodyguard."

"Hey, I'm kidding...Wait, Sakura-chan, why are you running all of the sudden?"

As I ran after her, I smiled at the giggle that I heard in response.

...

We stood in front of an apartment building.

Made out of red bricks with small windows, the building was certainly old but not in a bad way; it almost looked vintage, and I could see my dad really liking this apartment. It was much better than the apartment that my family lived in before when we were poor.

But there was a certain vibe about it that made it scary and inhabitable...

As if it was haunted.

"Not too bad, huh?"

I looked to the girl beside me, who looked at the building with unreadable expression.

"The building's condition is pretty good actually. The rent is amazingly cheap, way cheaper than what it's actually worth, but that's because there was an incident that made this whole apartment undesirable by anyone who knows its history."

"What incident?"

She turned her head to look at me, those green eyes of hers boring into mine almost piercingly as her lips told the words.

"The room number 305, one of the nicest room in the entire building, made many neighbors complain about strange noises that could be heard all over the apartment, every single night. Usually the apartment manager would have handled the issue, except the man who lived on the room 305 never stopped doing whatever that he was doing when the manager visited him, even after threats that he would be kicked out. So the manager decided to call the police and let them handle the issue. One day, the police came, and they knocked on the door of room 305."

I gulped, completely engaged. After a slight pause, her quiet voice continued on...

"A man came out, looking quite surprised and startled to see two police officers standing on his doorway. He looked nervous, shifting from left to right. The police asked him if he could please keep the noise level downl, or next time they will be helping him pack so that he could leave. He said yes, he would keep the noise down. Then there was a scream from one of his bedroom."

Her voice became quieter as she fully turned her body towards mine, so that we would be facing each other directly.

"The police officers rushed inside, ignoring the man's protests. When they opened the bedroom, they saw..."

I gulped (_for all the reasons that had nothing to do with fright, but rather her close proximity and scent of sweet pea that traveled through the light breeze) _as she took a step closer, her face barely inches from mine. Her voice was now merely a whisper.

"Two women, one torn from limb to limb and head severed, while the other woman was bound to a chair, her gag miraculously on her throat instead of her mouth while her eyes were wide from lack of sleep and fright."

"Oh God..."

"The man was arrested, of course, and he later confessed that he was the serial killer that was on the loose for quite some time. He kidnapped women from the bars, and then took them back to his apartment so that he would sever their heads first, and then rape them, then cut them from the right arm to the left leg."

She backed away slightly so that she wasn't so close to my face.

(_I would be lying if I said I was glad that she moved back.)_

"So after that, all the people who lived inside it moved out as soon as possible and the building was soon deserted. The manager even sold the apartment to these weird people who were into the whole 'serial-killer-used-to-live-here' type of thing, being fans of horror. But they couldn't maintain the apartment without any income whatsoever, and their jobs weren't enough to pay the bill. So, for people who has nowhere to go and is looking for really cheap rent and decent quality, this apartment became pretty popular."

She laughed.

"Pretty popular might be a wrong word though, since it's still pretty empty. Lots of people are turned off by the history."

She turned away, breaking the contact between blue and green.

"I don't really mind it, though."

"Which room do you live in?"

She smirked.

"Room 305."

I gulped.

"It was the cheapest room, for reasons that you are aware of now. The room still has little blood stains on the wall, and my parents didn't have enough money to paint the walls again."

She looked at the ground, suddenly shy, and started to play with few pebbles that were lying on the ground.

"Naruto, um..."

Green met blue again, hypnotizing, captivating.

(_She's a siren, except her weapon was her eyes)_

"Why are you nice to me?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, why are you standing up for me, in front of the entire class? Taking my side against a _teacher?_ I...that's risky. You probably knew she wasn't going to let it go, so why?"

I looked at her silently.

Well, to me the answer was pretty obvious.

"Because you're my friend. Because it was the right thing to do."

She stared at me, not saying anything, while I could do nothing but to stare at her back. Finally, she smiled, a melancholic type of smile.

"Even though I'm a Pink Prostitute?"

I frowned.

"Don't say such things about yourself."

I put my hands on her shoulders and noticed that it was trembling slightly.

"You're my friend, Sakura-chan. Sure, you have this weird job that I still don't approve of, but that doesn't mean that I think any less of you as a person. You're funny, nice, and while I think you should be condemned by ramen God because you disagree with my opinions regarding the holy food-" I smiled when I succeeded into making her laugh, "-I still think you're pretty awesome person to be around."

I pushed back a strand of pink hair that fell on her eyes, tucking them behind her ear.

(_At this point, I'm wondering how I am being so touchy-feely with her without her kicking me. Or me turning into a zombie because her eyes are too pretty and too alluring up close.)_

"What that bitch of a teacher did today, that was wrong. So there was no way that I would stand by that, even if it was a real life prostitute. Since the person was you, my friend, there was no way I couldn't _not_ do something about it."

"But you had to clean all the bathrooms in the entire building and because of it now your hands are all blistered and red," she said, her eyes slightly glassy.

I stepped away (_and hoped that it was disappointment I saw in her eyes as I moved back)._

"It wasn't that bad. I had to do worse. Even though I will forever have mental scars and girls' bathroom will be the scariest place ever for a really long time."

She stared at me again, silently observing, and processing what I said at the same time.

Finally, her face bloomed into an honest, happy smile that had my heart beat faster.

"Thank you, Naruto. That was...the nicest thing anyone has ever said or done for me."

I smiled, unable to do much else when my heart was still beating thousand miles per hour because of her smile.

"Anytime, Sakura-chan."

"I don't even know how you had the courage to do something like that."

"Pfft, my middle name is courageous."

She giggled, the sound bouncing off the walls of the building and travelling through the wind, almost echoing in the silent night.

"I...I'll treat you to lunch or something, sometime."

I wiggled my eyebrows in what I hoped was a comical, suggestive manner.

"Is that a date?"

She smirked.

"Hmm...let me think about that."

She blinked, which woke me from my trance. I grinned, feeling like myself again now that her enchanting eyes weren't penetrating me.

"Night, Sakura-chan."

I turned away and was about to take a step forward, when she called me back.

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

I looked at her as she bit her lips and a small, mischievous smile spread on her lips.

"If you would like it to be, then yes."

She giggled at my dumbfounded expression, and waved.

"Good night."

...

As I watched her go inside the apartment, there was only one thought in my head.

"Does that mean it _is_ a date?"

* * *

**Thank you for all the reviews! I'm so glad that many of you found this story to be worthwhile! I'm sorry for all the mistakes. I try to find them and fix them as much as I can before updating, but I always manage to find them AFTER I upload the chapter, which is really annoying.**

**One of the reviewer suggested that Sakura could show her apartment conditions to Naruto. I thought about it, but decided against it since that would make this fic a little too long (setting up the scene so that the idea of Sakura introducing her apartment to Naruto would be natural and not forced) and I honestly had no idea how poor her apartment could be. I didn't want her to live in a dump, but she is still poor to the point where her parents had a hard time paying anything other than basic necessities, so I didn't know how to achieve that middle ground. Which is a shame, because I did really like the idea. **

**I hope I'm not moving too fast with the couple. I wanted this story to be kind of realistic, not the whole 'love at first sight' but not the 'I hated his guts and now he grew on me and I love him' thing either. How a typical two people get together in the real world, but with a little more drama than that, just to keep things interesting. I would love some suggestions on what the drama could be. I have few ideas that I'm mulling over, but it would always be nice to hear new ideas.**

**I hope you enjoyed.**

**Review?**


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